It was a sunny day in late autumn. Just after lunch, Li Qingya lay lazily on the imperial concubine's lounge chair, taking a nap in the warm sun. The imperial concubine Mingxuan, who arrived quietly, held her slightly swollen belly and came over to tease her.
He stretched out his hand to scratch the back of her nose and said, "I'm up, I'm still sleeping!"
Her slender eyelashes fluttered between Mingxuan's fingers, and she sat up in a blur, covering her nose and mouth with a yawn before calling Cuimei to bring a chair.
Mingxuan looked at her lazily and asked with great interest: "I am in good spirits when I see the king today. I took Yunzhong and Yungong to ride horses early. Why didn't you sleep well? Huh?"
How could she sleep well when a man like Wan Yanyong, who was still in his prime, was sharing the same bed with a teenage girl like her?
She stood up and helped Mingxuan lie down and said: "Well, to be honest, I am only as old as he is. He is so majestic and majestic. Naturally, I am very tired. The pear blossoms are heavier than the begonias..."
——"The pear blossom overwhelms the begonia? Be careful if he hears it. You two are only thirteen or fourteen years apart. How come the pear blossom overwhelms the begonia? Nonsense!"
"Hey, I won't say anything anymore. It would be a shame to say too much. You know it yourself!"
Mingxuan raised her wide sleeves to block the sun. After sitting for a while, she asked again: "You tell me?"
"What?"
"You are such a sweetheart, why can't you always conceive a child?"
She paused for a long time before saying, "What does this have to do with me? Having a baby is not my business alone. It is naturally the king's problem."
"Nonsense, I'm pregnant again and again. How could it be the king's problem? Did you do something?"
She shook her head no.
"She also lied to me. Xiu Yin told me that that day, Ajia asked her to call the imperial doctor, but Xiyi intercepted her on the way, forcibly pulled the imperial doctor far away, and talked with her for a long time before leaving. I Miyagi...I was thinking that the imperial physician said that you were deficient in energy and blood that day, so I’m afraid there was a lie!”
"How dare I lie to the imperial concubine! This..."
"Qingya, I have been in love with you for so many years, and you still want to hide it from me," before she could finish speaking with a smile, Mingxuan interrupted her, her expression serious as she spoke, as if she was really angry.
She was silent for a long time before shutting away the people around her and leaning against her ear. But when the words came to her lips, she couldn't continue, so she called Xiyi to tell her again. Xiyi was a straightforward girl, so she told Mingxuan verbatim about her drinking of anti-diabetic medicine. She didn't even have a chance to make up for it.
"It's ridiculous! Li Qingya, how dare you take the king's flesh and blood heirs seriously!" As expected, Mingxuan got furious and swept down the cup next to her hand.
"Your Majesty, please calm down!" She knelt down and bowed.
Mingxuan sat upright in anger and asked her to kneel down without asking her to get up. But after a while, looking at her like that, she felt distressed again and calmed down a little. ..
"Why is this so? Are you still thinking about His Majesty and hoping that the old relationship will rekindle?"
She didn't reply, just stood on her knees in the wind.
"You are willing to marry yourself, but you can't do this. The king regards you as his heart, but what about you? You are still thinking about others, and you even resort to this strategy to avoid your son. If the king finds out, you will kill him. Head."
After hearing this sentence - "You are willing to marry me," she thought of that night many years ago countless times in her mind. Over the years, she had wanted to forget that thing that made her heartache, but she could never forget it. It remained like a scar in her heart.
——Is she willing to marry? If she hadn't been wronged in her boudoir and lost her innocence due to persecution, she wouldn't be willing to come to this place even if she risked her life to go.
She wanted to retort, to express her grievances and helplessness, but unfortunately, at this moment, time had passed, and no one could understand her feelings. She could only say - "I know I was wrong, and I hope the empress will appease her anger." .
"Get up! I understand your feelings, but in the long run, you will still have a child with the king. Stop the medicine quickly and don't be so willful!"
"Sister, I also want to ask you something..." She suddenly choked up and couldn't speak, as memories from the past surged in her heart.
"If, I say if, the king is not the one you love, are you willing to bear children for him and bear his flesh and blood?"
Mingxuan was stunned, looking at her lowered eyebrows. Looking at her helpless and helpless movements and smiles, he hesitated: "I,...of course I don't want to."
After hearing this, she smiled calmly and said: "It's a pity that there are no ifs in this world. You married the love of your life, and I... don't even dare to have a dream about him."
Qingya raised her head and looked at the clumps of dead branches and autumn forest outside the red wall: "After he came to the throne, he looked for me many times and wanted me to come back to him. But I understand that now, I am married as a woman. , it is my responsibility to maintain a marriage and the reputation of a family."
"When you get married, you must be loyal. This is responsible for yourself, your family, and your children. Therefore, I can only make no progress or retreat, and be ordinary with the king. That's all I can do!"
She turned her head slightly and said, "Sister, I hope you can give me a chance to think. When I think it through, I will put this repellent away, okay?"
Mingxuan calmed down and looked at her sincere eyes. Her eyes always revealed the gentle and strong qualities of a woman. Such an indomitable and tough idiot has a weak body but an unyielding soul. What reason would there be to stop her again?
"Okay! I will hide this matter for you, so don't overdo it when you take the medicine. I will send someone to give you some nourishing things, so that you will not be able to look back when you think about it clearly!"
"Okay, only my sister can understand me like this. Others will definitely say that I am unruly!"
"Don't you understand me so well? We all exchange people's hearts for people's hearts."
The two looked at each other, smiled, clasped their hands, and continued to chat about family matters and fun, and then they finally put the matter aside.
Just when they were enjoying themselves, suddenly there was a burst of hurried footsteps outside. The two of them looked towards the small corridor and saw Wan Yanyong pulling his two sons back. But before he could reach the door, he turned around and walked again. After going out, he trotted and shouted: "Concubine, madam, there is trouble outside the city again, so I sent them back. You two guard the house well, the lonely king is gone!"
The two of them didn't even have time to ask when he would return, they saw him walking through the intersecting corridors and drifting away.
That evening, all the lanterns were turned off, and everyone in the mansion had their own rest. Only Hui Wan Garden was still brightly lit.
Wu Lang was in a weak body, and he often caught wind and cold in autumn and winter. Not only did he sweat a little while jogging in the courtyard today, he casually took off his clothes, and he kept coughing at night. Qing Ya was so frightened that he did not dare to sleep. Then we gathered around the same bed with him.
She held up her head and wrapped the quilt around Yun Nian, caressed his red face and said: "Nan'er, I have told you many times that you cannot take off your thick clothes casually when you are sweating, otherwise you will definitely catch the cold. Yes, why don’t you listen?”
Yun Nian blinked his big eyes and looked at her, coughed slightly and said: "My dear... remember it! I won't dare to do it next time!"
She stuffed his outstretched hand into the quilt, then took the decoction Cuimei brought, and ordered her to bring some candied fruits to prevent Yunnan from drinking it bitterly.
After taking the decoction, she gently patted him to sleep. She vaguely heard a noise not far away, and Yun Nian asked him the reason.
"Most of it was the laughter of people watching the jugglers in Goulan..."
"I want to go see it too,"
"You get better first, then I'll take you there!"
She grabbed his little face and hugged him to sleep. After she put him to sleep, she was also in a daze. But at this moment, there was a knock on the door, saying that there was something unusual outside the residence. , ask her to come over and take a look.
She pushed her clothes in her arms, dragged her tired body around her cloak, and left. When she left, she asked Cuimei to take good care of Yun Chai, and then randomly called a few servants and a few female guards to go with her.
——"I always feel like something is going to happen!" She said as she walked. After a few steps, she felt something was wrong and ordered the men and female guards to go back and get a long sword each.
"Excuse me, Madam. She is still pregnant, so we don't want to disturb her, so please go and have a look and make an idea!"
When they arrived at the door of the mansion, they saw Zhang Qinli and Pu San Xiangling standing at the corner of the corridor, not daring to go forward. The door was closed tightly, and there were a lot of people holding torches standing in front of them.
The man holding the halberd, the sound of the sword slashing outside the door was very harsh.
Zhang Jiyan stepped forward anxiously and asked for orders: "Madam, it is an uprising from the border areas. They have already invaded the city. The spies I sent out have been killed! The life or death of the king is uncertain."
"Your Majesty——"
The first thing she thought about was Wan Yanyong's safety, but at this moment, she couldn't leave and had to make arrangements in the house.
"Everything will be fine, Your Majesty. If anything happens, his subordinates will notify the stay-at-home residence as soon as possible."
"I'm going to invite the empress. At this time, I have to disturb her..."
Waiting for someone to find Mingxuan, she stood anxiously under the eaves thinking of a solution, but the situation was urgent and she couldn't wait for her to come for a while.
At this time, Xiang Ling came up crying and ran towards the door like crazy: "The king is still outside, I want to find the king!"
——Wan Yanyong’s life or death is uncertain now
"What are you doing? If you go out now, you will be attacked by a thief's sword. Are you crazy?" Qingya pulled her back again.
"Ms. Li, aren't you the daughter of a military commander and have been practicing martial arts since you were a child? Go and save the king. Go and save the king!"
She came up and pulled Qingya's clothes, but now was not the time to argue with her, nor was it the time to hesitate.
She was quiet for a long time, thinking about the wall, and after exploring its situation, she dared to direct Zhang Jiyan and said: "Supervisor Zhang, take all the officials in the house to guard the gates, and everyone is carrying a sword. , order all the crossbowmen to be deployed layer by layer on the walls of the front and back doors."
"yes!"
"It's best for the horoscope people to wear soldiers' armor, so as not to hurt themselves in the chaos. The lord warriors don't need to wear pagoda armor. It's too bulky, but the crossbowmen must wear it," she said, out of breath. : "Prepare torches and climbing ladders, and order people to go up the red wall. If there are thieves climbing over the wall, attack them with fire. Send someone at the bottom of the ladder to pass the torch, and the person on the ladder is responsible for attacking."
"We will set up our positions carefully and calm down so that they can relax their vigilance..."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Come here, take my long sword, and take some people from my garden with you to protect Madam Ling and Madam Zhang. Gather a few young men and girls together, go to Biluo Garden, and hide in the King's Tibetan Pavilion. Especially Yun Nian needs to be taken good care of, he is sick..."
"Yes!" Xiyi drew her sword and called away several female guards, escorting Madam Zhang and Madam Ling down, and Zhang Jiyan also went down to guard them.
She looked at how many female guards were around her, pointed at them and asked, "Do you have any swords on you?"
"yes!"
"Stay here with me, and I will risk my life to protect the Liushou Mansion!"
"Yes! Madam,"
Imperial Concubine Mingxuan came forward holding her belly, stood beside her, calm and unfazed, pointed at Xiu Yin and said: "Send someone to set off a bunch of fireworks right now!"
"Why set off fireworks?" Xiu Yin asked.
"This is an act of intimidation and false accusation. It made the thieves mistakenly think that they were setting off fireworks to ask for reinforcements, so they retreated in the face of difficulties..." Qing Ya said.
"Qingya knows me..." Mingxuan nodded.
"My sister and I are both strong and soft, and it is enough to protect our family!"
All formations were aligned, the heavily armored "Iron Buddha" stood guard at the door, and the crossbowmen stood in two layers, ready to greet them.
The leader of the rebel army outside the door has arrived. He sent people to completely surround the left-behind mansion. He sat on his horse with pride and said to his subordinates: "There are all beautiful women in this left-behind mansion. If you don't know what to do tonight, After we invade the mansion, I will give this beautiful woman to you for your enjoyment!"
After hearing this, the soldiers' morale became even higher, and they gathered around the corner in reply.
Seeing that the courtyard was quiet, with only a few dim lights under the eaves and darkness everywhere else, the leader felt a little strange and said to himself: "These women won't be afraid to hide." Just say something! Wan Yanyong's woman, is she so brave?"
He looked left and saw nothing, so he shouted outside the house: "Wan Yanyong is dead, and his head is in my hands. If everyone in the courtyard opens the door and accepts the surrender, a bloody battle will be avoided!"
After saying that, the courtyard was still quiet, and the leader began to relax, stroking his armor, wiping his shiny beard and saying: "Well, beautiful ladies are timid. In this case, then straight
Just open the door, no need to climb over the wall, it's unnecessary! "
